Blog

NestWatch Blog Posts

  • Monitoring Birds of Prey in New York City

    In New York City, citizen scientists help urban hawks by contributing nest observations to the raptor nest monitoring project administered by NYC Parks’ Wildlife Unit. By contributing to NestWatch, these volunteers are helping to reduce secondary poisoning of birds of prey.

  • illustration of a bluebird that is not allowing a chickadee to nest in a paired box with a large entrance hole juxtaposed against another illustration where the bluebird is not competing for the second nest box, this time with a smaller entrance hole.
    A Tale of Two Boxes: When Pairing Doesn’t Promote Peace

    Can pairing nest boxes to reduce competition have a downside? Researchers at Davidson College say yes, and that if you’d like to help out the smaller bird species in your area, it’s all about entrance hole size.

  • Barn Swallow nestlings in nest
    The Life and Times of Mites

    If you monitor bird nests, you’re probably pretty familiar with mites. Join us as we explore the different kinds of mites that inhabit birds and their nests, and discover how birds have evolved to fight back.

  • NestWatcher Finds Rare Albino Nestling

    A NestWatcher discovers an albino Tree Swallow in a Massachusetts nest box. Fewer than one-half of a percent of all birds have this genetic condition.

  • two featherless Northern Flicker nestlings lying on wood chips inside a nest box
    What’s All The Buzzing About?

    Do Northern Flickers have a “hive mind” mentality? Or is their acoustic resemblance to a swarm of bees simply coincidence? Listen in, and decide for yourself!

  • three photos side-by-side of items that were mistaken for nests, including a wild cucumber seed pod, a Polyphemus cocoon, and a wasp nest.
    The Nests That Weren’t

    We love to play “Guess whose nest?” and answer your burning nest questions. Sometimes, however, this takes a detour into non-avian species. Here are our top five participant finds.

  • a tree swallow adult alighting on a nest structure, feeding a nestling that is reaching out of the entrance hole.
    Buckeye Birds Track Temperature And Precipitation

    A new study based on Ohio’s bluebirds and Tree Swallows sheds light on how future climate scenarios might impact nesting birds. It also takes a look at how birds might help mitigate crop pests in Ohio.

  • Time Traveling House Finches

    A study spanning a century of House Finch data suggests that as California’s springs get warmer, the birds are laying eggs earlier in the season. Read on to learn how researchers used our nest records to uncover the historic lives of House Finches.

  • A Pulley System for Large Nest Boxes

    For anyone struggling with how to clean and maintain a large nest box mounted on a tall pole, consider installing a pulley system to raise and lower your nest box. Within this post is a link to a design for building a low-cost pulley system.